Thursday, May 2, 2013

A total of 22
companies including Mitsubishi Heavy and Omron and a total of 13 universities
including Kyoto University
and Osaka University will develop a technology to
charge EVs and smartphones wirelessly using microwaves. They plan to develop a technology
to transmit electricity to a distant place wirelessly in five years. In the
future, they plan to apply the technology to space photovoltaic power
generation that transmits electricity from the solar panels in space to the
earth. They have founded a consortium for joint research. Funded by investments
from the participating companies, the participating universities apply the
research results to the development.

Researchers plan to
put a system to charge smartphones and equipment for charging moving EVs into
practical use in five years. They also plan to develop a system to charge an
unmanned plane that is used to survey damage in a large-scale disaster. Toward
2040, they plan to establish a technology to generate electricity with the
solar panels put on an artificial satellite in space and transmit electricity
to the receiver on the earth. The technology to charge electronics wirelessly
using electromagnetic induction is already in practical use. Because this
technology cannot be applied to charge operating equipment far away, the
researchers wish to apply microwaves to the development. According to a U.S. research
company, products characterized by wireless transmission technology will grow
from about 97 billion yen in 2012 to 1,150 billion yen in 2020.